Apologies again for the lateness of this post. I'd promise the other bowl previews for this week will be up by tomorrow morning, which is my intent, but I don't make promises I can't keep.
Meanwhile, a strong start on predictions has slowed down a bit. The weekend dropped me to 4-2 straight up and 2-4 against the score.
Bowl: Motor City Bowl
Teams: Purdue vs. Central Michigan
Purdue's season was... Purdue-esque. For years now, Joe Tiller's squads have been infamous for starting out well against a soft early schedule before collapsing down the stretch when facing the traditional Big Ten powers. Or anyone, really. The Boilermakers were 7-2 by the end of October before losing three straight.
If they really do 'Remember what you do in November,' no one knows who this man is.
Central Michigan's season was... Anti-Purdue. The Chippewas began 1-3, including a 44-14 clubbing at the hands of North Dakota State before reeling off seven wins in their last nine games to claim the MAC Championship, for what that's worth. One of those three early losses? A 45-22 whipping at Purdue.
Purdue impact player: QB Curtis Painter. Painter completed 62.3 percent of his passes (321-of-515) for 3,300 and 26 TDs against 9 INTs. In the Central Michigan game, he went 29-of-39 for 360 yards, three scores and no picks.
Central Michigan impact player: QB Dan LeFevour. Despite having a Canadian-sounding name (he's actually from Illinois, which is almost as bad), LeFevour's a pretty good football player. If by "pretty good football player," you mean the kind that can throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000. That includes completing 66.4 percent of his passes (338-of-509) for 3,360 yards, 23 TDs and 13 INTs and averaging 6.5 yards on 155 carries. He was also good through the air in the Purdue loss (35-of-56 for 364 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT), but not on the ground (10 carries, 26 yards).
Fun Sponsor Fact: GM, one of the "Big Three" automakers sponsoring the bowl, lost $39 billion in the third quarter but can still afford to sponsor a meaningless college football exhibition game in Detroit that only fans of the two teams and we enthusiasts will be watching. Hooray priorities!
Prediction: Neither team has performed particularly well against BCS clubs, but Central Michigan has been a special kind of dreadful, getting demolished not just by Purdue but also by Clemson (70-14). No reason to think they'll get revenge for the loss to the Boilermakers, but it will be much closer. Purdue 34, Central Michigan 31